Kikis L. Christofides

Kikis L. Christofides (1941-2016) was an initiate who joined the circle of Daskalos (1912-1995) and worked with him for over 20 years.

He appears in Kyriacos C. Markides first four books (with the first two focusing on Daskalos) as 'Kostas'.

Christofides was an initiate or adept in his own right (a generation younger than Daskalos), who had his own groups since the 1970s, alongside the circle around Daskalos, and one was free to go to both teachers who had both a different style and offering.

Editor note:

To date, we have not been able to trace back records or notes from his lectures at Erevna or before. Therefore the information on this site is limited to quotes and excerpts from Kyriacos C. Markides' books. Very little further information is available on Christofides, who was shying away from public attention and media, and did not want any books published. For his legacy, see the Erevna organization.

Aspects

biographical information
- studied civil engineering in the UK, worked for Shell Oil, lost everything due to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus
- latent capabilities since childhood, but only started spiritual development again with Daskalos after returning to Cyprus in 1972 aged 31
- for more info see Markides' FIH Ch. 3

Individuality and incarnations

"several incarnations in Peru" (probably together with Daskalos who also said to have had several incarnations in the Aztecs culture (HTS p 95 and 146)) (FIH Ch 3, see below)
claimed that in one of his incarnations he was a knight in the court of Richard Lionheart, Richard I of England (1157-1199), and took part in the crusades (MOS p. 136)
- research notes: Richard was part of the Third Crusade (1189–1192), an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. Interestingly, Richard also conquered Cyprus in 1191. Several famous crusader knights to Richard are historically known, and have a link with Cyprus, oa. Robert IV de Sablé (Grand Master of the Knights Templar 1191-92 and Lord of Cyprus 1191-92 after buying Cyprus from Richard), Guy of Lusignan (who became ruler of and settled in Cyprus after him), and Richard de Camville was appointed governor of Cyprus in 1191, jointly with Robert of Thornham.
mentioned "that he, like Daskalos, was a painter in Italy during the Renaissance" (FIH Ch 3)
relationships
- "I had a prior relationship with Master Immanuel who lived as a Catholic priest during the Venetian period (16th century) in Famagusta. The Greeks at the time called him Manos. Since then he has never reincarnated and has been serving human beings from the other side."

Erevna

Erevna is a non-profit, philosophical and spiritual research institution, the aim of which is the systematic study of the knowledge that has been offered to its members by Daskalos and Kikis L. Christofides. By utilizing the given knowledge, and through study, introspection, and meditation exercises, as well as the offered spiritual guidance, the Researcher of the Truth members explore the “Know thyself” to express the inner self.
The name Erevna derives from the Greek word 'research'. Erevna, as an institution, was founded in Limassol in 1989 by Daskalos and operated under his guidance until his passing away. In 2017, a Board of nine members was elected to take on the task of safeguarding and utilizing the legacy of unique knowledge for the benefit of its members and Man in general.
Regarding Christofides role in the Erevna organization
- Erevna was established by Daskalos with his blessings, and Kikis Christofides as head and legal representative and as a secretary Yianoulla Venn. Main reason was that after the success of the books by Kyriacos C. Markides; thousands of visitors from around the globe started coming to Cyprus to meet Daskalos. Daskalos asked Kikis to take some weight from his shoulders and be the head of his circles in Limassol through Erevna. [source: info from internet, anonymous source present at Stoa in Strovolos in 1989 when the announcement was made]. Apparently Daskalos and Christofides remained in close contact (despite the so-called published 'separation' in the media]
- Christofides never got any financial benefits from this and declined offers for books about him.

Illustrations

FMC00.407A shows Daskalos at younger age with the British healer Harry Edwards (1893-1976) who visited Cyprus for his initiation into Daskalos' inner circle in 1954 (left and center); right with Kikis L. Christofides (with glasses, performing a healing) and Ron Young (see Reference section below)

Lecture coverage and references

Kyriacos C. Markides

in Riding with the Lion (RWL). In Markides' books, Kostas refers to Kikis L. Christofides

... I had further opportunities to meet with Kostas .. often at his gas station where, in between customers, we would engage in endless philosophical discussions. He never failed to astonish me with his penetrating insights into esoteric knowledge, even if on occasion we would disagree on some particular detail.
My real work is not this," he reassured me one day while engrossed in a pile of legal documents. He had just returned from a two-day business trip to London to sort out his affairs with Shell Oil Company management. He did not have to explain to me the meaning of his words since I knew that Kostas' conception of his mission in this life was not to pump gasoline but to be a healer and to disseminate esoteric wisdom through Erevna.
Yet Kostas, a devoted husband and father of two, had to work in the ordinary way to make his living. His wife, too, who as it happened was a cousin of Emily's, was particularly emphatic in not wanting her husband to turn into a revered and distant full-time guru. Already their lives have been affected by the endless influx of visitors not only from Cyprus but from all over the world seeking healing and spiritual wisdom.
In spite of all the international attention there was this dignified, I would say heroic, stubbornness on the part of Kostas, who was determined not to fall into the trap of guru worship.

198X - Markides

extract from Markides FIH Ch 3.

quote A

"Can you tell us about some of your past lives?"
[Kikis] smiled. "Allow me to duck that question."
In fact Kostas did tell me in earlier encounters some of the vividly remembered periods in which he lived—without revealing details of who he actually was. For example, he mentioned to me once that he, like Daskalos, was a painter in Italy during the Renaissance.
In his present life, he said, he could not even "draw a line."
He did not dare pick up a brush now because his mission was different and he did not wish to "reawaken the painter" within him.

quote B

In several incarnations we had in Peru, we expressed tremendous power. I am telling you that inside those mountains [the Andes] there are huge undiscovered monuments, including pyramids. They have been engraved in granite in such a way that would have been impossible to reproduce with today's technological sophistication and power. Believe me, they were not carved with material tools and technology.
...
The only difference in my present life from those Peruvian incarnations is that today we express knowledge through the lenses of Christianity. This is what is added to me in my present life. But when it comes to general knowledge and power, we knew more then—or, to be more precise, we manifested more, than we do now.
We may not manifest the technical knowledge of mind that we expressed then, but now we operate from a higher spiritual platform and state of awareness. Oh, yes. Every incarnation is better than any previous one. Whatever knowledge we express now is through the lenses of Christianity. This is the great difference.

quote C - short bio

from Ch 3.7 'awakening of a master'

Question: "How did you become a member of Daskalos' circles, and how did you develop your healing and psycho-noetic abilities?"
I have been interested in these matters ever since I was a child. I remember when I was still in elementary school, some books that dealt, among other things, with hypnosis fell into my hands. I could hardly understand them and yet I was drawn to them and I struggled to practice some of the exercises and experiments the authors of these books suggested. For example, they instructed the reader to concentrate on a particular object. I did so with regularity for hours on end.
... I was a pupil in elementary school. In fact, one day my mother entered the room and saw me sitting on my bed staring at the corner of the wall. She looked at me time and again, came close to me, and when she discovered that I had in front of me a certain book she gave me several slaps on my behind and warned me never to touch them again,
[Markides: Daskalos had told me some time in the past that both of Kostas' parents had been members of his Famagusta circles and that he used to hold Kostas on his lap as a child. When Daskalos heard of the slapping that Kostas suffered at the hands of his concerned mother Daskalos raised his eyebrows and said to the woman "Don't you realize, my dear, that you are spanking a master?"]
Anyway, my dreams were like a second life for me. In reality I had no idea what was happening to me. I thought everybody was having the same experiences as myself.
In elementary school I discovered that I could move various things by sheer thought. I used to hang objects from a thread and with my mind I would move them left and right like a pendulum. I used to think that it was perfectly natural to do all that. I would also move empty matchboxes by concentrating on the tips of my hand. My hand would become like a magnet pulling the matchbox.
...
[Markides: He was brought up in Famagusta, then the major port of the island. Had it not been for the Turkish invasion Kostas estimated that he would have been a multimillionaire by now, since his family had substantial landholdings in the then most touristed part of Cyprus. Kostas grew up wealthy and his engineering studies in England were a preparation for taking over his father's transportation-related business. But his karma turned him into a penniless refugee struggling to survive economically in the highly competitive Levantine world of Cypriot business.]
I knew of Daskalos early in my life, because my parents were very close to him and belonged to the circles of the Research of Truth. Whatever problems my family had - I mean various illnesses - they would first consult with Daskalos. When, however I completed high school and went to the university in England I was no longer interested in these matters.
[early stages - 1972 is age 31]
It was later on, in 1972, several years after my return from England, that I first got interested in spiritual matters again and attended one of Daskalos' meetings. That year Daskalos reopened his circles after seven years of inactivity. Yohannan had given instructions to Daskalos to close the circles for the duration of those seven years because of some problems.
The first time I attended his gatherings I came home and sat in an armchair in our living room. My wife and son were asleep. I watched television for a while, but there was nothing of interest and I turned it off. I sat there pondering Daskalos' lesson. I suddenly entered another plane of existence in full consciousness. The television in front of me disappeared. The walls vanished and I entered inside a radiant, starry, brilliant light. What a light! It was not of this world. You cannot experience such a light here within this dimension. The euphoria I felt was beyond anything imaginable. There are no words to describe what I felt.
I must have remained in that state for quite some time. Then gradually ... I began to descend into this dimension. I saw how matter was slowly becoming solidified within the vibrations of the three dimensions. I began to see the wall acquiring form and concreteness. The same with the furniture, the television, and everything else in the room. Slowly, slowly I landed within my body. But I must say that I as self-consciousness had not moved into some other location. Everything took place within the same space. This experience took place the first day that I attended Daskalos' meetings, when I began to ponder and meditate over the lesson he had just given us.
The abilities [to enter into those states at will] developed slowly within the span of a few months. I could then enter into those vibrations any time I wished. However, I must say that I began experimenting right the next day. I waited for my family to sleep and then I went into the living room and sat in the same armchair. Then I tried to enter into that state. It worked!
...
My dream life was becoming a greater, more substantive reality for me. Of course, as I told you, I had always had vivid experiences with dreams and other strange phenomena. But in the past I had no explanation for them. For me it was routine, and so I did not take much notice. My dreams, for example, were so alive it was as if I were living a parallel existence. I often could not separate happenings within my dreams and in my daily life. I used to think that such experiences were ordinary for everyone. ...
I was fully conscious within my dreams and I could do whatever I wished. In other words, I was a fully rational entity within my dream life. If I wished to go somewhere I could. Yet there was continuity and coherence in my dreams. I was not jumping from one totally unrelated dream event to another as most people do. I have come to realize in studying people and human nature that most people jump from one incoherent episode to another in their dream life. They are being swept in their dreams by what we call the psychonoetic winds.
...
Daskalos helped me ... by allowing the knowledge that was already within me to come forward. ... Daskalos' teachings served like a catalyst ... Knowledge was coming forward much more easily. But the experiential knowledge was already within my subconscious. At the stage where I am now I could simply turn the switch on and knowledge would come forward like a torrent.
Because the knowledge I have assimilated and expressed in previous lives I am yet to express in this present life. It is there, however, within my subconscious.
Markides: "Why don't you turn that switch on?"
"Because I don't want to," Kostas replied, smiling.
"But why not?"
Because it will interfere with my social responsibilities in this life, my wife, my children, my family. I have to think of them.
[cont'd incl. experiences with OBE's etc]

2025 - anonymous source

from a person who knew Kikis L. Christofides personally

Kikis could never have approved his talks to be for sale in such way. I know Markides proposed him to write books about him, and he refused. He had his own business and was not interested to earn money with teachings.

2025-03 - Philip S.

from personal information exchange, info from mails here SWCC (shortened without contents changes)

Question:

Spiritual masters have gone about divulging their teachings, open and freely and never for money. Daskalos gave freely for anyone, without expecting anything in return. That has been no different with other spiritual teachers like Blavatsky, Steiner, Beinsa Douno, and others.

Why are Christofides lectures are kept (like behind walls) from the free flow of information so they can reach any soul who would benefit: was this his personal choice and vision of how things should be?

In ‘Riding with the Lion’, Kostas (Christofides) is quoted as stating"Erevna does not have any teaching ... Erevna is involved with the Teaching. There is a big difference. If you call it the teaching of Erevna, then you appropriate it as your own, as if the wisdom of God is the property of this or that group or organization. Erevna is preoccupied with the Teaching and tries to convey it to others. .. this Teaching .. is the outpouring of wisdom, which everyone has access to. It is not owned by anybody in particular. It is neither the monopoly nor the property of any guru, or any mystical group."

In that context, how come that this wisdom is only made available with controlled filtering. How did Kikis L. Christofides feel about this and what was his vision in this regard?

Answer

[On Kikis L. Christofides]
Personally, I searched for many years going to various highly regarded teachers to find the person that was right for me and my searching. When I found Kikis, I knew directly that he had the integrity and profound wisdom and compassion that I sought.
My understanding is that Kyriacos [Markides] saw Kikis as an advanced disciple of Daskalos, that he saw him reflected through Daskalos .. but the senior researchers in Cyprus would say he was not .. but that actually he was [not just a student, but] far more advanced. He was just younger by a generation. He led many circles in Cyprus in the early years.
Kikis never accepted any money for his teaching or his healing work.
Kikis did not want the teachings that came through him to be openly shared. He was very concerned that they could be used by some for very negative purposes, especially with regards to the exercises.
He also did not want some to take these teachings and become teachers and make an income from this (and this is happening with some of the students of Daskalos).
[On Erevna]
The way Erevna functions is different from many spiritual approaches ... there is a process whereby interested people can join the organization and begin to receive the lessons, which start at a basic level and become more complex and deep as one proceeds. And there are hundreds of lessons. It is slow and difficult work and balanced introspection is vital.
Erevna also had to function in the very conservative environment of the Cypriot Orthodox church, and thus sought to maintain a low profile.
The fees Erevna charges are for the administration of the organization, and paying support people who handle various aspects of the work.

Quotes

source: public information taken over from another website

Whatever we give with our heart without expecting anything in return - that is the way.
Just by speaking out the problem, healing can happen.
Condemning a fellow human being is (hypocrisy or) an attempt to hide one's own faults and weaknesses.
Thoughts without feelings are perfect. Then they are no longer thoughts, but contemplation. Normal thoughts cannot express the qualities of contemplation.
Time and space are only meanings, but not realities.
Agapi means love in the sense of "life itself". It means embracing everyone and everything indiscriminately, without reason and without expecting anything in return.
Reality is lived mechanically by Man. People constantly have experiences without realizing them.
Never think positively about something negative. Forget the negative - then it forgets you too.
Everyone is on the same path as you. They take the same steps and their legs tire as they walk through life, just like yours.

Excerpts

Not exhaustive, but as a starting point, the links below point to some quotes based on and taken from the books by Markides, here excerpted and put in topic context:

and also on

False prophet#Note 1 - About certain gurus and spiritual teachers, and their stage of moral development

Discussion

Related pages

References and further reading

theerevna.com